this is a maximum security facility. these kids will do anything they can if they think that they can get away with it or if they think they can get out. >> if he smokes marijuana, it's because his friends give him marijuana to smoke. morris isn't responsible for anything. it's everybody else's fault. >> i was a high-ranking gang member, you know, and people still try to look at me in that way. >> what i'm saying is i'm trying to get an agreement for to you get you out of here you admit to one or the other. if you don't want to admit to marijuana, admit to resisting arrest.

i don't want to be here. i just spent a year of my life. >> okay, well calm down. >> do you want to get out of here? listen to me and do what i'm saying, and we'll get you out of here. >> i just want to go home and be with my daughter. that's the whole thing. i was supposed to do. >> how old is your daughter? >> three. friday i was supposed to go to my girl's house to see my daughter. it was like 2:00 in the morning. like that's when my ride came. cops, they was just like chilling on the end of the block. and then they tell everybody like get out the car. so we all get out the car, put our hands on the car, and like he come back, and he like, well, whose weed is this? and he's like you're going to jail for possession and

marijuana. and i'm like how can i go to jail for something that wasn't in my possession? you can't even sit three people down and walk out a room and come back with a bag of weed sitting there and you just put it on everybody. >> i wasn't there. i can't tell you. >> happened to somebody. that's -- >> and you're telling me this is money that you've earned in one week? two weeks? or -- >> no. that's the money i had for like three weeks. i had more. i don't know what happened to it. the officers ripped me off when they were slamming me on the ground. >> eventually you're going to do right. >> i am doing right. >> i know. but you're right here with us again, again. >> that's not my fault. >> this is not the first time that rodrick's been here, and usually when a child comes in more than once, it's a high percentage that he will be a repeat offender again. >> and i've been here like three or four times.

i did a whole year in boy's school. that's why i'm so nervous right now, because i don't want to go back there. like ain't no way that's somewhere someone wants to be. >> more than 3,000 kids pass through the juvenile courts in lake county, indiana, each year. here consequences can range from a sleepless night in detention to the ultimate punishment for kids who keep coming back -- boys' school. >> going to indiana boys' school or girls' school is the most restrictive placement or restrictive punishment i can give them. because you lose your freedom. you're in a prison. it's the worst thing i can do to them. >> you know some people it takes a big problem just to really open their eyes. and that's just like for me, for instance. i went to boys' school. and it calmed me down a lot. like if you ran my reports and everything about me, you would be like why would he be here now when he's doing so good? i believe boys' school changed me. >> he's done so much better than in the past. he was failing his classes. that changed. grades started improving.

he started working. and unfortunately you hang around with the wrong crowd and you get blamed sometime for things you don't even do. >> the big problem is me being here for something that i really didn't do this time. >> they're picking on you? >> because i'm black and i look like a thug and i wear jewelry and i've got money in my pocket. >> i don't think that's what is it. >> that's what it is they think i'm a drug dealer because look at all that, man. come on. they think everybody sells drugs when they're black. and it's not even like that. i work hard for everything that i've got and everything i accomplished. >> it's your job to prove them wrong. >> that's what i do. that's why my money's here, because i have a check for every dollar that's there. no drug money. >> you have so much potential. you were doing so much better. you were doing really good. >> but you're say being it like i'm honestly like out there getting in trouble. like i was just going -- >> i don't know what happened. i don't know what happened. i don't know if you're out there trying to get in trouble. that's what the court system is there for. to determine whether you're guilty or innocent.

>> the fact of the matter is that he's been here more than once. so it is hard for us to believe when they're repetitive offenders. >> thousands of kids filter through the lake county juvenile center, and each one of them has a story, typically about their innocence. >> this is a maximum security facility. these kids would say anything they can if they think that they can get away with it or if they think they can get out. >> luckily for the intake and detention officers at lcjc, figuring out whether the kids are guilty or not is not part of the job description. >> there's really no reason for us to know it. every kid is here to be treated equally and fairly. that's up to the courts and the judges to deal with the crime aspect of it. >> after 26 years you've heard so many stories. i've had so many kids tell me so many stories, and of course there are those that seemed very genuine. could it be a game? definitely. i've been burned before. but there are other people in the courtroom that help me make decisions. say the counselor that was present. the probation officer helped me.

and listening to both sides really lays out for you what each kid has done or hasn't done and the good and the bad points. i mean, at that point you're in court, and it's the end of the road here. now it's put up or shut up. you might as well just do it now and tell the truth. >> did you have any problems with him? >> no. other than he gave me the wrong name. >> and you're not going to charge him with false -- you've done that before, morris. you've already had charges of lying to police officers. it's better to be honest. so he was in somebody's apartment or just on the vicinity of the apartment? >> he and several of his friends were out smoking marijuana on the front porch of the cloisters apartment complex. >> okay. are you high right now? were you smoking marijuana today? >> no. >> he tells me he wasn't smoking. there was about seven of them. >> i'm just going to have the nurse look at him real quick to determine that he's not under the influence. they found him today because

he was smoking marijuana with his friends, and they ran all their names. at first morris was lying about his identity because he knew he had a warrant. >> you didn't take any drugs? >> hmm-mm. >> why are your eyes like that? >> like what? >> all slanty and red. >> my eyes ain't red. >> they're red. >> we're going to need medical clearance. we can't accept him like this. >> she believed that he was under the influence of marijuana. >> all right. we'll be back. >> thank you. >> so prior to him being admitted to our facility he will require a medical clearance. the maryville police department is taking him to the hospital, where they're going to conduct a drug test. >> so positive for marijuana. >> but we knew that was going to happen. >> mm-hmm. do you feel any of the effects of marijuana still? no?

>> he was released from house arrest in april of this year, and then he failed to come to his court date in july. so he didn't appear in court. his mother did. his counselors did. his probation officer did. but morris was on runaway status. why didn't you go to court on the 24th, but everybody else did? >> i was scared. >> you were scared? did you get a chance to talk to your probation officer prior to going to court? >> my probation officer, he was talking about sending me to placement. i'm like nope. that's why i didn't go to court. so they said they were going to send me to placement for two years. >> the indiana juvenile courts have options other than sending young offenders to juvenile prison. kids can also be placed in a variety of rehabilitation facilities known as placement. for morris, his probation officer was recommending an extended placement in a facility where he can learn to manage his anger problems. >> i can't control my anger. all my life.

last time i was here because me and my mom got into it and i punched a hole in the wall. >> but it makes it worse when you don't appear in court. now you present yourself as a flight risk. you understand that? you just make it worse for yourself if you run away from your problems. >> i remember back five years ago my grandma told me you keep frowning, your face is going to be stuck like that. and she wasn't lying. >> wherever you go, we coming. and if they send you far, we coming there, too. >> can you pass a drug screen today? >> i believe i can. >> what do you mean you believe >> what do you mean you believe you can?r. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now.

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for years msnbc has been documenting the tragic stories that unfold in america's juvenile justice system. with extraordinary access from the indiana supreme court, we've been allowed to take our cameras

inside a world where they are by law generally forbidden. >> i've been coming to lake county juvenile since like, '03, '05. between them years. one of them years. been coming here for a long time. >> 17-year-old rodrick is back in lake county juvenile after being arrested for marijuana possession and resisting arrest. according to rodrick and those overseeing his case, he had been on a good straight and narrow path, working toward becoming an electrician, covering up his gang tattoos, and preparing for the arrival of his second child. >> you ain't got no time for no gangs, no nothing. i know you don't want your son living the same lifestyle you live. >> no. >> when i got out of boot camp and i found out i was probably going to have a child, it changed me because i got something else to live for. i just can't live for like gang banging. and i was just going to go back to school and complete this last year and get on with my life. >> so you want to tell me you got to leave the streets alone?

>> yeah. i was just at the wrong house at the wrong time. >> rodrick insists he's innocent. he says the marijuana was found in a car near where he was standing and not on him and that it is definitely not his. >> my probation officer told me a couple times i've been like one of her best people. if i was doing so good, why would i let some marijuana mess up my life? >> a lot of the kids that come here, they're repeat offenders. and a quarter of them you lose. end up dead, burned up on the railroad tracks, murdered. just random gunfire. if you can change one child, you made a difference. >> these are kids who are seeing things and gone through things certainly beyond what most of us have ever experienced. so what i try to do is get the court to recognize that these are still kids and that kids who've made mistakes, maybe more mistakes than a lot of us are used to, but they are able to

learn and rehabilitate. so my hope and goal with all of these kids is that the system works, so that we can get them the help that they need so they can go on and at least live a productive life. >> i want to spend a little bit of time right now talking to you a little bit about what happened. then more specifically about our strategies in going to court tomorrow and achieving hopefully what it is that you want, and that is getting out of here and going home. >> i want a lawyer like, because it's not fair for how you try to put something on me that's not even mine. >> well, it sounds to me like what happened with you is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> that's what i see. but a lot of people are not going to see that. and, you know, just because i been in trouble before, that's not going to help me. because i've been in trouble -- >> that's why we're talking now. i want to be able to distinguish what happened before versus all the -- the progress that you made -- >> you know, now that i'm sitting here for nothing, it make me feel even worse, like why do i got to go through this? like when you try to do something good, it's like bad things come to you and stop you from doing good things.

but you know? i ain't going to let this stop me. i'm still going to go to school to be an electrician. i'm still going to take care of my kids. and i'm still going to be me. >> all right. so the point is they weren't your drugs. they weren't on you. you didn't know that those drugs were in the car. >> i didn't know they was in the car. >> when the police came, your buddy took off, you stayed. >> if i don't have anything, what's my reason to run? you know, i should have went in the house. i wanted to do that. but i'm not that type of person. you know? because i want to show people like i'm not a bad person. that's why i went back and just talked to him. but he got aggressive with me. you know? for no apparent reason. then he thought i was an adult. you know, because i got a nice gold chain. you know, i came, had nice clothes. and he think i was a drug dealer. >> the number one goal that i would have for any of these kids is that they never end up in jail in the adult department of corrections. and that's the ultimate goal is that these kids learn their

lesson and never have to face a judge who's worried about, how long do we lock this guy up for? >> but i'm just going to pick myself back up. that's it. that's all i can do. i don't mean to cry, but i'm hurt right now. >> no, this is not a place you want to be, and like i said, our job is to get you out. and that's, you can focus on the reasons why you shouldn't be in here, you should be out taking care of your child. those are the things that we're going to want the court to hear about. rod, you convinced me that you're certainly on the right track with things. now our job is to convince the judge tomorrow. >> we do need some help with your anger and i don't think you're crazy. but i think something is bothering you. what you think? [ female announcer ] when kate collects her pink yoplait lids

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last time morris was arrested it was for damaging his mother's house in a fit of rage. upon being released he ran away from home and failed to show up for his hearing. he was picked up yesterday for smoking marijuana and will soon have to face the judge. but right now he must face his mom.

>> so i can get out tomorrow? >> i don't know. do you think you should? why? >> i didn't do anything. >> you didn't do anything? you didn't go to court. >> i know. i was scared. >> you were scared? >> they said they why going to give me two years of placement. >> you should have gone to court. >> i'm going to court now. >> mm-hmm. you don't have a choice. they told me they took you to the hospital, you tested positive for marijuana. you've been smoking, huh? >> i don't know. >> you don't know? what you do that for? >> thought that would help for stress. >> you feel like you need something to calm you down? then that's what you should have been telling the counselor and the therapist. if that's how you feel. this is what i'm talking about. the things you're telling me, you need to tell them. you may have a chemical imbalance. who knows? there's medicine for that. and people are not crazy who take it. >> i told people. they ain't going to help. >> how do you know? you keep going with a negative train of thought.

what makes you get angry like that? >> just stuff people do. >> even when things don't go your way, you stay angry. >> that's what i'm saying being here it's going to make it worser and worser. i keep feeling right now. >> you keep telling yourself it's going to get worse and it does. >> i keep punching walls. >> punching for what? have you been praying? why are you crying? >> because i'm crazy. >> you're what? >> i'm going crazy. >> you feel like you're going crazy? >> i know i'm crazy. >> you are not. i hate to see him like this. who do you want me to bring to court? nobody? just me?

can i tell you something? i love you to death, but you do need some help with your anger. some professional help. and i don't think you crazy. but i think something inside is bothering you. what you think? >> i want to be with my family. >> you want to be with your family? then you're going to be with your family. wherever you go we're coming. and if they send you far, we're coming there too. okay? >> it feel different when i cry. i ain't cried in a long time. >> it's good to cry sometimes. relieve stress. there's nothing wrong with crying. there's nothing wrong. >> after spending a worrisome weekend in juvenile detention,

rodrick prepares for his monday morning court date by meeting with his probation officer while his mother discusses strategy with his court-appointed therapist. he will go into court with a team on his side. but his long record will also speak loudly to judge bonaventura. >> this today is your detention hearing. the judge that's going to hear your case is going to look at if there's probable cause to believe that you committed the acts of possession and any acts of resisting. >> i feel like i've been working so hard, but like -- and this is the first downfall i had since i've been home. >> i know. >> and i don't want to like mess up everything that i've been trying to accomplish. because you know i've been doing too good, miss sarah, even from school to being outside. >> you're the one that said to me -- remember what you said to me at the last court date? >> i want to stay on probation. >> keep me on probation, it's going to help me out. and that's what we did, right? >> but the biggest thing that he's done that the judge is really going to commend him on is removal of his gang tattoos. >> yes. he covered it up. >> yeah.

>> so i mean that's an admission that he's turning his life around, he doesn't want the gang style anymore. doesn't want the gang life. and that was a lot to give up. his respect, his authority, his position within the gang. it's all gone. >> it's just i was at the wrong place at the wrong time. police was like where we found some marijuana. i was like, well, it's not mine. he was like, well, somebody got to go to jail for this. >> i told him certain stuff i can't figure out for you no more. you get to a certain age, you know, i can't do it no more. you've got to do it for yourself. >> so what you're saying is like 90% of the time, 99% of the time he's fine? >> rodrick could be outside at 2:30 in the morning. there's really not too much outside to do at 2:30 in the morning. >> that 1%. will bring him in here. 1% will say well, i'm going to go out at 2:30 in the morning. >> it's consequences. >> we'll go to court, talk to the judge, let her know how you've been doing, but she's going to make that final decision. all we can tell her is you've

come home, and up until now how thank you yoon doing. okay? and that's a good report. that's not a bad report. we'll go in there and see what she has to say. and we'll go from there. okay? all right. >> all right, ms. sarah. >> at today's hearing, rodrick and morris will learn if they get to go home with their parents or if they must remain detained in lake county juvenile while they await their next court hearing. judge mary beth bonaventura will make the decision. >> there's two reasons why you would order a child detained, whether he's a danger to himself or to others, or there's an unlikelihood that he'll come back to court for the second hearing. and so if you make a decision that they are a danger you detain them. and if you find they're not a danger, then you release them to the parents. >> brown. >> morning. >> right now i feel like i'm going to go home. like i know my probation officer knows how good i've been doing since i've been home from boys' school. so i may go home today. hopefully. >> ready, your honor?

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msnbc now, i'm vinita nair. a rare october snowstorm has haeft lever 3 million without power and declared a state of emergency, urging people to stay off the roads. three deaths have been reported as a result of the storm. and police say more than a dozen occupy denver protesters were arrested saturday after attempting to get inside the capital. police used pepper spray and rubber bullets against the crowd. now back to "lockup." come on out. >> hey, morris, how are you? don ruck. i'll be your lawyer for today. >> 17-year-old morris is locked

up for possession of marijuana and, more importantly, for failing to appear at a prior court hearing. before he enters the court hearing to face the judge he meets with his court-appointed attorney, don ruck. >> at today's hearing the court's going to want to hear a little bit about what happened. they're going to make a decision about whether or not to release you today. what do you want to have happen? >> i want to get released. >> okay. did you test positive for marijuana when you came in? >> mm-hmm. >> you did. all right. the court's going to ask you why you were using marijuana. do you know how you'd answer that? >> i'm gonna tell them i was in a car with people. they were smoking marijuana. >> okay. i'll tell you. one of the things is the probation department's recommending that you stay locked up. all right? we have our work cut out for us. the difficult challenge as a public defender for a child is distinguishing between what's in the child's best interest, and what the child wants. because in every case, every child wants to get out of here.

but there's no question that as morris' advocate that i want him to go home. and my preference is that children should be home with their parents. as opposed to, you know, detained at a detention center. >> you know you had a court hearing and you didn't even come? >> i was scared. they said they were going to give me two years in placement. >> so you were a run away. i'm not going to recommend that you go home. i'm going to try to keep you staying here so we can work something out. >> it's not going to work. >> come on. something's going to work. let's go back. you're not going to run around like a chicken with your head cut off. >> probation officer gordon fleming is convinced morris requires more time in the care of the state. his attorney will fight to see that morris gets what he wants, to be released home. but it is judge mary beth bonaventura who ultimately gets to decide morris' fate. >> sir, i think i understand your testimony to be that because morris is not as

available or participating with these services, to the extent that you think appropriate, that he should just remain locked up? >> well, i'm basing that upon him running away from home, his mother not knowing where he is. and she was having a hard time controlling him and reasoning with him. he has failed a couple of drug tests. morris has told me on several occasions that whatever i do is not going to work. >> you had previously recommended that he undergo anger management, and you had recommended family counseling and counseling services. why don't we let it work itself through some more? let's let this counseling take hold, the anger management take hold before we say the answer is just to keep him locked up. >> well, that would be fine, but morris has tended to befriend some young men, one, for instance, who was shot the other day in a drive-by shooting. the young people that he's been associating with, i believe it's safer for morris to be here for us to work with morris. >> so now it's an issue of him being safe?

>> well, that's one of the issues, yes. >> okay. that's all i have, judge. >> anything else mrs. kusick? >> mr. fleming, just to reiterate, the main issue is you fear that mr. morris won't be present for future hearings? >> yes. >> and that's based on his past behavior? >> absolutely. >> no further questions, judge. >> morris, when you didn't come to court on july 24th, did your mother come? >> yes. >> have there been other times when you leave the home without your mom's permission? >> yes. >> when you go to school, do you go to school every day? >> yes. >> your attendance is perfect? >> yes. >> judge, can i have a brief moment with my client? >> go ahead. >> okay. be honest. i'm telling you, she's got the records from your school. listen to the question and answer it honestly. don't make it worse. >> anything else mrs. kusick? >> no, judge. >> mr. ruck? >> judge, i would call morris' mother angel to the stand, please.

if the court were to decide that morris need not be locked up any longer, would you be willing to have him released to your custody? >> i'm always willing. but i just wonder if that's what's best for him. >> well, do you think it's best to keep him locked up? >> here, no, i don't. but as far as what helps, i know that there's a problem and he does need some help. >> does he recognize there's a problem? >> yes, he does. >> why do you say that? >> we discussed it and he does admit that there is an anger problem. >> and do you think it's appropriate that he go home with you? >> i'll try. >> that's what you want to do? >> i'll try. >> after listening to all of the arguments and assessing the

witnesses, i would say that the mother, mrs. mosley, certainly gave her heartfelt testimony and i can feel for her as a parent when she said she's willing, but i also think what she didn't go on to say which i think she probably would admit to is that he's a little bit of a handful for her. more importantly to me is that he's out on the street doing some very dangerous things and we all know that when you lay down with dogs, you get fleas. so this young man has been living on the street or between friends or doing something that he shouldn't be doing, all because he was afraid to come to court. he endangered himself and maybe others. and for those reasons the court has now ordered that he remain detained pending his next hearing because there's an unlikelihood that he will appear for a subsequent hearing. now, are there any questions? all right. then this hearing's adjourned. thank you. >> you want to say anything to your mother? >> i'll see you at 1:30. >> i know i'm going to go crazy up in this place. >> it's okay. i'll see you at 1:30.

all right? you're going to be all right. i'll be here every day. i love you. >> i love you too. >> i certainly understand why the court did what it did. there's not a solid support structure in place where this mother's saying don't worry about it, i'm going to take care of this problem and he's going to be back again. while i certainly was advocating for him to go home, would have liked to have seen that, i understand the court's decision. >> with so much testimony pushing against morris' release, the judge decides he should remain locked up until his next court hearing. rodrick, on the other hand, is coming to court with his own cheering section. but will it be enough to sway judge bonaventura? >> he actually asked me to stay on probation throughout the summer until his 18th birthday at his last hearing because he felt that the extra supervision from myself and mr. zimburski would really help him get through the summer to ensure that he would be able to stay on the right track. in almost seven years i've never had a juvenile ask me for that extra time with probation and with a therapist. they want to get off, get done,

and call it a day. and rodrick actually came to me and looked me in my face and said can you please stay with me on my case, let me stay on probation with you so we can get through this. >> can you be more specific about the level of improvement that you've seen in the past year of working with him? >> he had an allegiance with a street gang, and there was a lot of respect that he got with the street gang, a lot of authority with the street gang, and position. and recently rodrick has terminated his association by removing the tattoos on his arm, which is a measurable feat. >> how significant a step is that for somebody that's been affiliated with a gang to remove the gang signs from themselves? >> a monumental step. a remarkable feat. >> do you believe that it would be safe for him to be released to the care and custody of his mother? >> yes, i do. >> thank you. that's all the questions i have, judge. >> rod, let's talk first of all about what brings you here today. you're being charged with possession of marijuana and resisting law enforcement. are you going to cooperate with the prosecutor's office in identifying the person whose

marijuana it was? >> i can do that. >> will you do that? >> i will do that because it's not mine. i'm not going to jail for nothing that's not mine. i've been working too hard this year, sir. too hard this year. i've improved my whole life. my mother told me a long time ago when i was in boys' school if i ever in my life from now to the time i'm dead, if i ever got locked up she wasn't going to come and see me, she wouldn't be here now. and you know i felt -- that's why i know my mother. believe me, she know the truth. that's why she here today. >> that's all i have, judge. >> i have a question. rodrick, have you been having drug tests while you've been on probation? >> yes, ma'am. >> can you pass a drug screen today? >> i believe i can. >> what do you mean you believe you can? >> i believe i can. i'd do it any other time. >> okay. all right. you can have a seat next to your

lawyer. >> did you smoke marijuana in the last 30 days or not? >> not that i know of. >> not that you know of? sounds like you better get comfortable here. >> so your mom knew where you were at? >> no, she didn't know where i was at. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up

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through ultimate rewards. so, why settle for gold when you can have so much more? chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. call the number on your screen or visit our website to apply. well, i commend all the improvements that you've made in your life, and you've had a lot of people here today that have testified to that. but i wasn't quite convinced that your response to whether or not you could be clean today was -- i wasn't sure you were sure about it. today what i'm going to do is order that you submit to a drug test. if he has a clean drug screen, i'm going to order that he be released on electronic home monitor. if he's dirty, then he's going to stay here. >> what's it going to be?

>> hopefully, i'll go home. >> hopefully you'll go home. did you smoke marijuana in the last 30 days or not? >> not that i know of. >> not that you know of. sounds like you are going to get comfortable here. it's either yes or no. not that you know of? did you smoke marijuana or something in your sleep? >> mm-mm. i'm not worried about it completely. i'm going home. >> it has been 21 days since judge bonaventura decided to keep morris detained at lake county juvenile while the probation department and courts determine what is best for him. today he goes back before the judge to learn his fate. >> keep your hands behind your back. >> the judge might send me to placement. or she probably might give me house arrest. if i was talking to the judge right now, i would tell her i'm trying to do better. i know i've got a problem. if you send me home and trust

me, i'm going to show you i can work my problem out with my whole family. >> morris, you remember sometime back we went through a detention hearing where you talked about your background, your history and what you wanted to have happen, correct? >> yes. >> now, we're not going to go through all that for today's hearing. all i want to know, morris, is what you've learned since you've been locked up. >> well, what i learned since i've been detained was how to control my anger. i would like to go home with my family. >> can the court and can your mother believe you right now when you're saying that? >> yes. and my father. >> can you look them in the eye and tell them that, that you're going to fully comply with everything? >> i'm going to fully comply. i'm going to do better. i'm trying to change my life. i don't want to be angry. i've got a problem. i admit it. >> what's your problem? >> i have an anger problem. >> that's all i have, judge. >> miss guzek, anything? >> morris, you said you couldn't go to your therapy appointments because the therapist came when you were sleeping. she came too early or he came

too early. what part did your smoking marijuana play into that? >> i don't smoke in the morning time. >> when do you smoke? >> to tell you the truth probably around in the afternoon. >> how did your running away from home in july to mid-august prevent you from meeting with your therapist? >> i didn't run away. >> so your mom knew where you were at? >> no, she didn't know where i was at. >> so you were a runaway. >> her boyfriend see me. my sister see me. i would come home, spend night downstairs. she wouldn't even know it. >> you're telling me people in your house knew you were sleeping in that house at night when there was a runaway report out for you? is that what you're telling me? >> yeah. >> and they didn't tell your mother you were in the house? >> they told but she ain't never seen me. >> you said enough, thank you. no further questions. >> mr. ruck, anything else? >> all i would say, judge, is

that being locked up, sitting here does something, and i believe it has for morris. i would suggest that we move in increments. we move in increments from where he was before with no real restrictions just you need to do what we're telling you to do to now we're going to put a bracelet around your ankle and make sure that you're doing what we say you're going to do. before we jump to the most severe conclusion, the recommendation that he be shipped away from his family and brothers and sisters that he hasn't seen in a very long time. so i would just ask that the court give some credence to what he said on the stand today. thank you. >> judge, we've heard that morris has done some soul-searching while he's been detailed for the last three weeks, and apparently has seen the light. i'm not sure what light it is he's seeing. what i've heard is a person that's still not taking responsibility for anything that he does. he's not going to get services unless this court takes him and puts him in a place where he can receive services. and he desperately needs services. i think that probation's recommendation for placement should be followed.

>> listen to me and do what i'm saying. you admit to one or the other. if you don't want to admit to marijuana, deny it and we'll dismiss it. admit to resisting arrest. >> i mean we've got a young man who's punching holes in the wall. maybe he's not ready to come home. of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year

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this is a difficult case for me for a lot of reasons. i think that this is a mom, i remember from last hearing, who said i'm always willing. always willing. that's, to me, a sign of a really great mother, but at the same time, she acknowledges and admits that maybe he's not ready to come home. i mean, we've got a young man who's punching holes in the wall. we have a young man who's abusing drugs. and we've got a young man who left home for four or five or six weeks to avoid his mother because he knew there would be a conflict. and so that worries me that he's going to put himself in a situation that's going to become

dangerous for him. so for all of those reasons today the court is going to order that he placed at the compania academy and i'll order that his family participate in family counseling along with him so that he can return home sooner than later. all right? this hearing is adjourned. thank you. >> say good-bye to your parents. >> i love you. it's for the best. it's for the best. i love you, too. and i'll see you. >> i think morris is a stinker. >> good luck. and i think that he gives his mother a run for her money. he's not to the point where he's really a danger to other people. so i don't see him as a hardened criminal at this point in his life. it's my job and the job of the juvenile court system, to make sure that he doesn't get to that point.

>> brought you a visitor. how are you? >> two weeks ago judge bonaventura sent rodrick back to detention to await the results of a drug test after his testimony left her less than satisfied. >> can you pass a drug screen today? >> i believe i can. >> what do you mean, you believe you can? >> i believe i can. i do it any other time. >> it was an unfortunate end to a day in court that had been going rodrick's way. and it would only get worse for rodrick when the results came in. >> after you tested positive for marijuana, i've been working with the prosecutor to try to get some type of agreement that gets this whole thing disposed off. the prosecutor was originally recommending 120 days locked up here. here's what -- here's what -- hold on. hang in there. hang in there. >> oh, god.

>> i want you to get out of here. >> i don't want to be here. you all are supposed to be helping me. ain't nobody helping me. nobody! >> rodrick, calm down. >> i don't want to be here. i just spent a year of my life incarcerated. >> okay. well calm down. >> listen to what i'm telling you. here's what she agreed to do and i think this is what we should do. you're charged with two things, possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. you admit to the allegations of one, they'll dismiss the other, and then we can go in there and we can argue to the court whether you should be released for time served. >> i didn't even do -- >> listen to what i'm saying. they're trying to get an agreement for you that gets you out of here. you admit to one or the other. you don't want to admits to marijuana, they'll dismiss it, you admit to resisting arrest. >> rodrick's mother and attorney head off to court, still unsure

of what he plans to do. >> you never really know until somebody actually walks into court, and, you know, faces the judge, how they're going to react or what they're going to say. oh, okay. >> whatever decision rodrick makes in the next five minutes, it will likely affect the direction of his entire future. >> oh, god. >> mr. brown, we've heard all the testimony today about what people think should happen to you. what do you want to have happen? >> i understand i resisted law enforcement. and me being back there in that room for two weeks, that really got to me. and i know i tested like positive for marijuana. but, that's something i did, like, back in july. and i thought i wasn't going -- would be clean by the time i came to court. >> i know some people might say using a little marijuana isn't like shooting somebody. but at the same time do you understand the significance of that one use of marijuana, what

it had on your family, and your life, and, frankly, on the underlying charges that you already had pending against you? >> well, i take full responsibilities for my actions. and i just feel like i let them down, you know. like miss sarah, bob, my mom. i just want to, like, go home and take care of my responsibilities. >> rodrick, do you remember judge bonaventura asking you about taking a drug test? >> yes, ma'am. >> well, do you say you probably should be clean, something like that? >> i probably should. >> so you were trying to put one over on the judge. right? >> no. i thought i was going to be clean. so that's why i didn't say, yes, and that's why i didn't say, no. >> so you were hoping you were going to get by with it. >> not necessarily. >> well, you knew you were lying to the judge. >> judge -- hold on. i'm going to object to that. he answered the question. the question the court asked, was would he pass a drug test. not did he use marijuana.

>> i will sustain the objection. >> no further questions, judge. >> i have a couple questions for rod. you had tattoos removed didn't you? >> yeah. >> what kind of tattoos were they? >> i had gang tattoos. a scripture on my arm. i knew i was going to do bad in life, and that's why i removed the gang tattoos, because i ain't part of that life no more. because you know the gang, it's not here helping me right now. >> is there anything else you want to tell me today? >> regardless if i go home today or two weeks from now, when i get out i'm still going to go to school and i'm still going to be this positive person i became. because i like the person i became. >> huh. there's a whole bunch of stuff i could say to you today, rod. i know it was huge to remove the gang tattoo, which speaks volumes to me. after doing this job for 26 years, i don't think -- i'm sure there's somebody out there that has, but no one that i'm aware of that's ever done that, and

has, you know, sat up on the stand and testified that you've done it, knowing that you're going to go back out in the same city that you were in when you belonged to that gang, and maybe take your chances of what denouncing them might do to you today. you're like this close to succeed. and you're so afraid of that. it's easier for you to bail. just think about this hearing today. and all this argument about whether you're a good person or you're not. there's only really one opinion in this room right now that matters and it's mine, and i think you are a good person and i think you're going to make it. and for that reason, today the court is going to order that you serve 30 days in the lake county juvenile center, and i'm going to give you credit for the time you served. i'm going to release you today and order you released to the custody of your mom. >> ma'am, may i hug mr. bob and miss sarah? >> sure, if they want to hug you, you can hug them. >> i'm not going to make that request. >> thanks, bob. >> you're welcome. >> miss sarah. >> you like me now, huh? >> you know, even though he did

test dirty for marijuana and he was arrested, i don't want that to wipe away all the good he's done for the past year. which for somebody like rodrick is just enormous. >> the last time i'll see you. >> that's a good thing. >> i'll be 18. >> excellent. however, don't let me read about you in the paper. >> i was locked up for two weeks. he paid the price for coming here with a dirty drug screen. i think he got that message, and he needed today, somebody to say to him, i believe in you, and i just felt it was the right time to convey that message to him. >> whoo!